LAPT Nuevo Vallarta: World Cup reunion

Each year for the past five, PokerStars has put on a unique event that draws people from around the world. Now, those people are having a bit of a reunion.

The PokerStars World Cup of Poker pits national teams against each other for some nice cash and huge bragging rights. Last year, Team USA won its first World Cup title and it did so with the help of Team PokerStars Pro Greg Raymer and well-known online scrapper Tyler Netter. Both men have made the trip to Nuevo Vallarta and are going strong in level 6.

Raymer and Netter would do well to keep an eye out for another World Cup alum. At last year's World Cup, Martha Herrera led her team to the live finals in Barcelona. One-time a small-town Mexican girl, Herrera moved to Puerto Vallarta and vowed to never leave. Though exceptionally busy helping with her husband's business, Herrera still finds as much time as she can to play poker. "It's the passion in my life," she said. Herrera won a local one-table satellite she played with friends. Each one of them has a piece of her action. As we prepare to head to dinner break, Herrera is still alive.

By the way, by some quirk of coincidence, the World Cup of Poker division playoffs are this weekend. We'll have live blog coverage of the playoffs on Sunday

In other news, Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari is no longer with us. Having fallen down below 4,000 in chips, Akkari open shoved with Qs-Ts. He got a caller who held A-Q. The board gave both players a queen but offered Akkari no further hope of surviving.

Also on the rail today is 2008 PCA final table player Christian Harder. Harder was down to 7,700 and found a perfect spot for a re-steal. The button came in for a raise to 1,100 and Harder pushed all-in for 7,700 with A-6. Too bad for Harder that the big blind made the call with A-Q. The board ran out 3-4-8-2-2 and Harder will have to look elsewhere for another final table.